PODCAST · education
FUNK !T | Mindful Media & Communication
by Sascha Funk
Join Sascha H. Funk, the current head of media studies at Thammasat University, as he explores the impact of media on our lives. Dive into thought-provoking discussions on mindful media consumption, digital trends, and effective communication strategies. Discover how to navigate the digital landscape with intention, cultivate a healthy relationship with media, and stay ahead in the ever-changing media landscape. Tune in for insights, strategies, and real-world examples on Mindful Media and Communications by FUNK !T.
Episodes
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Who Actually Gets to Decide What's True? Four Declarations in Two Weeks
On 27 September, MTV invented an award that had never existed and gave it to Taylor Swift. Two days later the President of the United States signed an executive order renaming artificial intelligence. One of those worked instantly and permanently. The other one did not work at all. Both are the...
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Two Thirds of the Attention: How Saxony-Anhalt Happened
Between the first of June and the end of August, political accounts in Saxony-Anhalt collected around 43.4 million views on TikTok. Sixty-four and a half percent of them went to a single account. On Sunday the party behind that account took 43.8 percent of the vote, more than doubling its 2021...
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Zuckerberg Says the Future Is for Everyone. I Have Five Questions and He Fails All of Them.
Five questions that will ruin every app you love, and a sixth one that matters more than all of them. I teach a platform teardown framework to my Digital Strategy students. Five questions, run them on any company, get an uncomfortable answer in ten minutes. This episode is those five questions,...
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OpenAI Can't Make Money, X Won't Die, and Google Search Got Worse On Purpose
I started teaching a new semester this week. Digital Strategy, week one, the same three theories I open with every year. Ten minutes in I realised I wasn't teaching theory anymore. I was reading the news out loud with citations attached. Three frameworks, three stories happening right now…
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FIFA Caved to a Phone Call. Taylor Swift's Wedding Went Full AI. Great Week for Media Theory.
Two stories this week that look completely unrelated. A presidential phone call to a football governing body. A celebrity wedding at Madison Square Garden with zero authorised photos. Both ended the same way: the people trying to control the story lost control of it completely. FIFA reversed...
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The World Cup 2026: The Good, The Bad & The Deeply Uncomfortable Truth
The World Cup is back. 48 teams, three host countries, billions of eyeballs, and — somehow — Saudi Aramco as an official sponsor. Sure. This week we go good, bad, and ugly on the 2026 FIFA World Cup through a media and communications lens. The good: why the World Cup's claim to global shared...
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Never Gonna Give You Up Pt. 2 — re:publica Debrief: Hope, Haters & the Coalition Problem
I'm back from Berlin. Three days at re:publica — Europe's biggest digital culture conference — and I have thoughts. The good news: the room was packed. People sat on the floor and stood in the doorway to hear a talk about digital dissent in Southeast Asia. People genuinely care about the open...
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Never Gonna Give You Up
This past week three things happened. The Devil Wears Prada 2 opened globally to $234M — a film about an industry that sacrifices craft for speed, made by sacrificing craft for speed. The first half and second half feel directed by different people, because the production more or less was. Ted...
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How Censorship Works in 2026 (It Looks Like Accounting)
We're heading into the final weeks of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert - CBS' number one show for nine straight seasons. The official reason: "purely a financial decision." Two weeks earlier, Colbert had criticised a settlement between Trump and Paramount, CBS's parent company, which is…
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The Therapy Aesthetic: Decoding Bieber's 2026 Coachella Set
Justin Bieber’s 2026 Coachella headline set wasn't just a concert; it was a real-time renegotiation of the performer-audience contract. This week on FUNK !T, we analyze the most polarizing performance of the year. We explore the stark divide between the physical attendees—who experienced a...
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Is Political Communication Dead? Inside the New Era of State Normalization
In this episode of the FUNK !T podcast, we are tackling the profound shift in political communication defining 2026. Forget traditional propaganda designed to change your mind. Today’s governments, domestic agencies, and foreign militaries are working from a completely different playbook. They…
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The Pentagon Learned from TikTok
The US military released footage of the Iran strikes this week. It was edited. It had music. It cut like an action trailer. 40 million impressions in 24 hours — before most people thought to ask what they were actually watching. In this episode: why governments in 2026 don't need to manage...
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Why We Can't Legislate the Algorithm (A Media Theory Analysis)
You cannot build a 19th-century border wall around a 21st-century cloud. Body:This week, the German government (CDU) pushed a motion to strictly ban social media for youth under 14, requiring digital ID verification to log into platforms like TikTok. In this episode, Sascha Funk breaks down why...
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The Bangkok Simulation: Why Global Cities Are Becoming "Non-Places"
Recording from the streets of Bangkok, Sascha Funk analyzes the city not as a tourist destination, but as a living motherboard. Using the framework of "Splintering Urbanism" and Marc Augé’s concept of the "Non-Place," we examine how global capital has bypassed local geography. When a luxury condo...
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The Gamification of Reality: Betting on the Apocalypse
Prediction markets like Polymarket have turned the news cycle into a casino. But this isn't just about gambling; it's about the Gamification of Reality. We have moved from being "Citizens" (who try to influence outcomes) to "Speculators" (who simply profit from them). In this episode, Sascha Funk...
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Surveillance Sport: The Death of the "Human" Element
In the final week of Milano Cortina, we are witnessing the collision of "Sport" and "Surveillance Capitalism." When a curling match is decided by a capacitive touch sensor rather than a human eye, we have entered what Baudrillard called "Hyper-Reality"—where the digital model is more "real" than...
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Spectacle Season: Super Bowl, Olympics & AI Watching Itself
Every February, the world pretends it’s watching sports. But what we’re really watching is spectacle. From Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show, to the Winter Olympics’ performance of neutrality, to Moltbook — a platform where AI agents talk to each other while humans watch — this episode looks…
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The Epstein Files and the Art of Distraction
This weekend, the U.S. Department of Justice released millions of pages of Epstein-related documents under a legal transparency mandate. No leak. No whistleblower. No cinematic reveal. And yet, the story barely landed. In this episode of FUNK !T, we look at how that happened. Not the gossip. Not...
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Davos 2026: Where Power Talks and Nothing Decides
Every January, global power gathers in a Swiss village to talk about fixing the world. Panels, speeches, statements. And yet, the crises remain. In this episode of FUNK !T, we break down what the World Economic Forum really is: not a place where decisions are made, but where power performs...
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Psychopolitics & the Art of the Feint
This week feels overwhelming on purpose. Venezuela. Iran. Greenland. ICE. Everything at once, no time to think. That’s not chaos. That’s a media feint. In this episode of FUNK !T, I break down how power today works through attention overload, spectacle, and exhaustion. From Trump’s Venezuela...
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The Death of Reality - How the US Weaponized "Cringe" and what that tells us about political communication
It is January 6, 2026. Three days ago, the US captured a head of state. This should be the most serious news story of the decade. But if you look at your phone, you aren't seeing history. You're seeing a roast. You're seeing deepfakes of Nicolás Maduro crying in a puddle of baby oil. You're…
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2026: The Year We Stopped Trusting the Glitch
If you use AI to write an email, and I use AI to summarize it... did communication actually happen? Or did two piles of code just perform a handshake while we both stared at a screen, hallucinating productivity? In this episode, we argue that the Dead Internet Theory isn't just about bots on...
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The Blockade: Why Venezuela is a Crime Scene
While the internet was busy arguing about domestic politics, the US Navy just went back to the 17th Century. On December 16, 2025, the White House designated the Venezuelan government a "Foreign Terrorist Organization" (FTO). That designation wasn’t a diplomatic move. It was a heist. In this...
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Panem is Here: Inside Trump’s "Hunger Games" (Freedom 250)
The internet laughed when Donald Trump announced the "Patriot Games" for the Freedom 250 Semiquincentennial. "It's the Hunger Games!" everyone tweeted. They were right, but for the wrong reasons. In this episode, we look past the memes at the dark reality of summoning "one young man and one young...
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Mourning as Content: The Semiotics of Slay
Did she say "Grift" or "Grit"?In this episode, we break down the viral moment that has the entire Right Wing internet spiraling. But we aren't just looking at a slip of the tongue—we are looking at a slip of the mask.We analyze Erika Kirk’s lightning-fast transformation from "Trad-Wife" to "CEO"...
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The Santa Simulation: Why The Holidays Feel Fake.
Does Christmas feel less like a holiday and more like a deadline? In this holiday anti-special, we peel back the wrapping paper on the "most wonderful time of the year" to reveal the capitalist engine underneath. We aren't just being Grinches—we are analyzing how a religious and social tradition...
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Why You’re Hate-Watching Jake Paul (The Psychology)
Boxing used to be about the fight. Now, it’s about the feed. In this video, we break down the Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua narrative not as a sporting event, but as the ultimate example of Guy Debord’s "Society of the Spectacle." We aren't asking if the fight is rigged—we're asking if the sport...
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Director's Cut: How 50 Cent Monetized Diddy’s Downfall
"He asked to take me shopping. I thought that was the weirdest sh*t in the world." — 50 Cent For 20 years, it was hip-hop’s biggest "open secret." It played out in diss tracks, vodka commercials, and Instagram memes. But now, the federal government has stepped in, and the man who played the Joker...
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Your Time Is Up: John Cena and the End of the Eternal Hero
John Cena’s retirement isn’t just the end of a wrestling career — it’s the collapse of a myth built on permanence. In a culture addicted to reboots and eternal heroes, Cena’s exit forces us to confront time, aging, and closure. This episode breaks down Cena as a media construct, a moral brand…
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The FIFA Peace Prize Fiasco
FIFA has made headlines again, and not for football. I dive into the controversial decision to award Donald Trump a Peace Prize. Is this just politics, or is there more to Infantino's strategy? I analyze the stupidity of the decision and the backlash that is sure to follow from a media & comms...
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Spotify Wrapped: Why You Are the Product (feat. Taylor Swift & Foucault)
I'm in the top 0.05% of Taylor Swift listeners."Congratulations. You are part of the Monoculture. Spotify Wrapped is not a celebration of your unique taste. It is a masterclass in Gamification and Surveillance Capitalism. In this episode, Professor Funk breaks down why we love sharing our own…
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Semester Review: The Classroom as a Mirror (What Worked vs. What Broke)
The university classroom is a microcosm of society. If you want to know where the culture is going, look at the students. Another semester is in the books. I survived. But did the students? In this honest retrospective, Professor Funk breaks down the real highs and lows of teaching Gen Z in 2025....
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Liverpool FC in Crisis: When the Myth of Anfield Collapses
This Means More." It’s a brilliant marketing slogan—until you start losing. Then, it becomes a curse. Liverpool FC aren't just suffering a dip in form; they are suffering a total Narrative Collapse. In this episode, we ignore the xG and tactical heatmaps to analyze the communication crisis at...
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FM26 is Broken. So is the System
Two years of hype. One unplayable menu. Football Manager 26 is finally here, and it’s a disaster. I’m skipping the tactical analysis to give you the media analysis. Why do we keep buying broken products? Why does "Next-Gen" always feel like a step backward? And what does a 20th-century French...
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Access as Obedience: When Journalism Turns Into Reality TV
Reuters, BBC, and Fox News walked out. Vloggers walked in. The Pentagon’s new media rules turned the pressroom into a stage — bright lights, perfect angles, and zero friction. This episode unpacks how “access” became obedience, how transparency became performance, and why democracy now dies under...
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Songs for Algorithms, Not Ears
Why does every track in 2025 sound like background noise? Because music isn’t written for humans anymore — it’s engineered for skips, clips, and playlists. In this episode, I dive into the culture industry, Baudrillard’s simulacra, Raymond Williams’ “structures of feeling,” Terranova’s free…
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Taylor Swift and the Art of the Strategic Flop
Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl broke every streaming record and still got called a flop. Critics say she’s out of ideas; fans say the lyrics sound like ChatGPT in heels. Maybe that’s the point. This episode dives into how pop stars weaponize boredom, why “bad” albums reset fandom…
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When Gen Z Takes To The Streets
From Nepal banning TikTok to Morocco’s “hospitals, not stadiums” protests, Gen Z is turning bans and failures into meme-powered revolts. This episode dives into Habermas’ public sphere, Debord’s spectacle, DeLanda’s assemblages, Anderson’s imagined communities, and Butler’s performative politics…
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The Saudi Sell-Outs: Sportswashing and Cultural Laundering
From WWE and UFC mega-events to comedy festivals and Formula 1, Saudi Arabia is buying global attention to rebrand repression as spectacle. This episode unpacks media events, Debord’s spectacle, Gramsci’s hegemony, Said’s orientalism, and Bourdieu’s symbolic capital to show how authoritarianism...
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Netanyahu’s Media War: The Feed as Battlefield
Benjamin Netanyahu calls social media a weapon — and Israel is treating your feed like frontline terrain. From bot networks to state-aligned talk shows, narrative has become artillery. I unpack the propaganda model, hyperreality, Foucault’s power/knowledge, and Arendt’s “lie in politics” to show...
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Diella the AI Minister: Can You Automate Corruption?
Albania just appointed the world’s first AI minister — a digital avatar named Diella, tasked with making government tenders “100% corruption free.” Sounds futuristic, until you remember algorithms aren’t incorruptible, just unaccountable. This episode unpacks the politics of algorithmic…
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The Age of Partial Presence
Multitasking isn’t a flex — it’s cognitive debt. In this episode, I unpack how we’ve normalized being half-present everywhere: in meetings, in feeds, even in our own heads. From Benjamin’s aura to Debord’s spectacle and danah boyd’s context collapse, I break down why culture now happens in...
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Kimmel, Censorship, and the New Public Sphere
Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show just got suspended after a monologue lit the wrong political fuse. ABC caved under pressure from affiliates, advertisers, and even the FCC — turning satire into collateral damage. In this episode, I break down what happens when comedy collides with politics…
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Wrestlepalooza, ESPN, and the Billion-Dollar Suplex
John Cena’s back, Wrestlepalooza is revived after 25 years, and ESPN is suddenly selling wrestling as if it’s the Super Bowl. Oh, and WrestleMania 43 is headed to Saudi Arabia with the fattest check in WWE history. In this episode, I break down how nostalgia, spectacle, and platform politics...
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Taylor & Kelce: Love as Media Event
Forget royal weddings — the Swift-Kelce saga proves romance now comes with broadcast rights. From stadium PDA to John Oliver cracks about a “royal-killer wedding,” their relationship plays like a franchise launch. In this episode, I unpack how intimacy becomes spectacle through Dayan & Katz’s…
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September Lock-In: Wellness or Burnout Theater?
It looks like self-care, but feels like finals week. TikTok’s “September Lock-In” trend has Gen Z turning routines into performance art — planners, matcha, and candlelit grind sessions sold as wellness. I dive into how discipline culture dresses up as care, pulling in Foucault’s panopticon,...
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Trolls in Power, Memes in Charge
Forget speeches and policies — in 2025, it’s all about the clapback. Politicians dunk on rivals, corporations roast their own customers, and trolling has officially become a communication strategy. In this episode, I unpack how memes replaced governance, with a little help from postmodern…
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The Fall of Streaming Platforms
Streaming was supposed to kill cable. Instead, we’ve reinvented it — with more logins, higher prices, and ads on everything. Netflix, Disney+, Max, Prime: all fighting to enshittify faster. This episode breaks down how the golden age of streaming collapsed into the same bundle fatigue we thought…
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Labubu & the Brain Rot Economy
Meet Labubu — the gremlin plush that proves memes don’t just rot your brain online, they move into your bedroom. This episode unpacks how absurd internet culture mutates into physical commodities, from Beanie Babies to Squishmallows to Labubu hype drops. Along the way: Haraway’s cyborg manifesto,...
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Grunge, But Make It Trendy
Remember when grunge meant thrift-store chaos and a middle finger to fashion? Now it’s a TikTok eyeliner tutorial with affiliate links. In this episode, I rant about how subcultures lose their bite once they’re fed into the algorithm, from Nirvana cardigans at H&M to “clean grunge” at Sephora....
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Join Sascha H. Funk, the current head of media studies at Thammasat University, as he explores the impact of media on our lives. Dive into thought-provoking discussions on mindful media consumption, digital trends, and effective communication strategies. Discover how to navigate the digital landscape with intention, cultivate a healthy relationship with media, and stay ahead in the ever-changing media landscape. Tune in for insights, strategies, and real-world examples on Mindful Media and Communications by FUNK !T.
HOSTED BY
Sascha Funk
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does FUNK !T | Mindful Media & Communication have?
FUNK !T | Mindful Media & Communication currently has 522 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is FUNK !T | Mindful Media & Communication about?
Join Sascha H. Funk, the current head of media studies at Thammasat University, as he explores the impact of media on our lives. Dive into thought-provoking discussions on mindful media consumption, digital trends, and effective communication strategies. Discover how to navigate the digital...
How often does FUNK !T | Mindful Media & Communication release new episodes?
FUNK !T | Mindful Media & Communication releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 522 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
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You can listen to FUNK !T | Mindful Media & Communication on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts FUNK !T | Mindful Media & Communication?
FUNK !T | Mindful Media & Communication is created and hosted by Sascha Funk.
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